Clause 67 - Rationalisation of school places in England
Education Bill [Lords]
3:45 pm
Mrs Angela Watkinson (Shadow Minister, Education; Upminster, Conservative)
Most of us will know that it takes a brave local authority to undertake rationalisation where there are small but popular schools. It has recently happened twice in my local education authority area, although, thankfully, not in my constituency. Schools have had falling rolls and have been down to barely one form at entry level, but they have still been extremely popular, and they have been defended to the death by local families, with vocal protest meetings and petitions. Such was the pressure put on the local authority it decided not to go ahead with school closures, despite the fact that the schools had more than 25 per cent. spare capacity. There may well be local authorities that welcome the intervention of the Secretary of State to take that responsibility off their shoulders.